A Day With Zae: 7 Months

Monday, May 9, 2016

Summer is creeping toward us with alarming speed. Some days I wish I could hit the pause button on this ride and slow things down a bit. My baby is moving out of babyhood too quickly--sitting this month, crawling, and learning new sounds. I look forward to the coming milestones but mourn the loss of each stage he passes. I truly try to cherish every moment. You can never get them back. So hug your babes today; these are the memories of tomorrow.

Milestones

Our first Mother's Day!

Sitting with no support started last month, long enough to snap a few pictures, but he's got it down easy peasy now. I feel comfortable leaving him sitting without having my hands right there ready to catch him if he falls.

First bonk on the nose. This one broke my heart, but I knew it would happen some time. I think this might have been the first time he ever cried because of pain. He didn't cry when he was circumcised, when he got his shots, or when he's wobbled into the wall. We call him our trooper because he has mommy's pain tolerance {tough bee}.

Crawling. He does all kinds of crawls, from an army crawl to his awesome beached seal moves. Then he does it the right way, and goes back

First rummage sale. A bit of a chilly morning, my mom and I hit a neighborhood sale. I found two rolls of foam tape that I use for scrapbooking for a buck, and {score!} we found a Jumperoo at a rummage sale for $10. I hadn't really thought about getting one, but we picked it up and he has been having sooooo much fun. He gets a great cardio workout. Getting those muscles ready to walk a few months down the road.

First trip to Iowa. It was pouring rain, but we headed down the river road to my favorite place for scrapping supplies--Horsfalls in Lansing. It's actually a variety store, but they have a ton of scrapbooking materials for so cheap it's like stealing.

Babbling. Bah-bah is his favorite sound of the moment. Still doing raspberries, but not as often {not missing that stage!}.

First Concert and Farmers' Market

Mornings

Zae has been getting up with the sunrise on these beautiful spring mornings. Some days as early as 5:00, some days as late as 6:45. If we make it to 7:00 I'm thankful I got to "sleep in." Once he's changed, dressed, and fed, he's Nana's plaything for a few hours while I work. She likes to take him for walks and to the park. Sometimes they go up to our friend's farm. He has dozens of chickens, turkeys, cats and kittens, and two mastiffs to play with.

On weekends, I try to stay away from my computer for a few hours and take Zae to look for treasures off the beaten path. We might hit a rummage sale, auction, or one of those crazy shops where there are dolls hanging from the ceiling. {yes, it exists. i have pictures to prove it. here ya go. enjoy the trauma} Here's hoping Zae isn't scarred for life.

Food

We've started solids other than the cereal that he's had for a couple months now. Carrots, sweet potatoes, and bananas have been a hit. Peas actually made him throw up, so I haven't tried them since. We just purchased a Ninja so I can puree my own fruits and veggies, which I am so excited about since I like to know exactly what is in our food.

Fun

Everything is fun when you're 7 months old! Toys are great. Air purifiers are great. Mama's toes are really great. Cats would be super-great fun if he could just catch them...He is very, very, very into the cats right now--especially their tails {much to their annoyance}. They are getting used to him, and he is getting to learn what gentle means, and that the kitties will run away if he pulls on their fur too hard. I don't think they mind that so much as him crawling up to them and yelling right in their faces because he's so excited to see them.

Even when the cats won't play with him, he entertains himself so nice. When the giants are doing boring grown-up stuff like fold laundry, he goes from a toy at one side of the room to another across the room. Back and forth, back and forth. Everything is amazing.

People are the best, though. Nana can make him laugh like nobody's business, and he wants to be by Daddy anytime he comes into the room. They each have their own little games to play with him. They steal him up for playtime then I'm the mean one who makes him eat disgusting peas that he gags back up. But they can never take over nursing him, and that's something only mommies and babies get to share.

Nap time

Who would rather play than nap? This guy.

We've left the swing in the dust. I used it mainly so I didn't have to climb Mount Everest, but now that he knows the drill, I bring him upstairs and nurse him and put him into his crib and he's usually out in seconds. It's been easy so far. I actually thought this would be a difficult transition. He always just kind of goes with the flow anyway, but the couple of times I'd put him to nap upstairs hadn't gone as smoothly. It was nice that this wasn't a test of wills.

He sleeps for a little less than an hour in the mornings, at about 9:30. Then he's down again at 1:00, and I head into my studio office across the hall and get as much work done as I can during the reprieve. Ha, speaking of... I hear his call.

Now that nap time is over, we're going to head out to swing for a bit, then take a little walk around the neighborhood because it's been a beautiful May so far and we've been enjoying being outside now that everything is warm and green.

Bedtime

Bedtime is still about 6:30. He chooses that time himself, because that's when he gets tired. I've tried to move that time a little later because he's been getting up at five {and Mama's not diggin' that}, but he's got his own bedtime schedule and whattayado? {Mama gets up at five, that's what} A few more pics, then to bed I go!